November 2023

For nearly two decades, NEFAC has been supporting local newsrooms, the most trusted source of information about our communities. We provide reporting workshops, investigative journalism training, legal resources, open government tutorials and First Amendment advocacy.

We need your help to continue these much-needed services. Members of the NEFAC Board of Directors are reaching into their wallets to match the first $9,000 in donations received this week. Please help us meet this week-long fundraising goal.

MASSACHUSETTS

NEFAC, Civil Rights Advocates Argue for Release of Police Misconduct Records

The New England First Amendment Coalition joined several civil rights advocates to help prevent police secrecy in a Massachusetts public records case.

The case — Mack v. Office of the District Attorney of the Bristol District — involves an investigation into a fatal shooting by Fall River police. Family members are seeking records related to the investigation that a recent change in state law makes public.

The District Attorney, however, is misconstruing the law by denying access to those records, explained NEFAC and other advocates in an amicus curiae brief filed in the state's Supreme Judicial Court. [...]

FIRST AMENDMENT AND THE FREE PRESS

NEFAC Leads Presentations at National Journalism Education Conference

The New England First Amendment Coalition presented to journalism students from around the country at the Journalism Education Association's annual conference in Boston this month. The coalition also led a discussion on the First Amendment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

NEFAC's “First Amendment and the Free Press” program highlights our constitutional freedoms and the democratic role journalism plays in our country. Email justin@nefac.org to book a speaker for your upcoming program or class.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Online Access to State Court Documents: Lessons for All New England States Available

The lessons build on the information provided in NEFAC’s introduction to state court classes which can be viewed here. The remote classes are taught by local journalists who give step-by-step instruction on how to access judicial records online.

View Most Recent Lessons

MASSACHUSETTS

Todd Wallack

WBUR-Boston

VERMONT

Liam Elder-Connors

Vermont Public Radio

RHODE ISLAND

Tim White

WPRI-Providence

CONNECTICUT

Andrew Brown

CT Mirror

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Annmarie Timmins

New Hampshire Bulletin

MAINE

Sawyer Loftus

Bangor Daily News

FIRST AMENDMENT AND THE FREE PRESS

NEFAC Featured on Cranston Public Library's Down Time Podcast to Discuss Journalism

NEFAC’s Justin Silverman and Ed Fitzpatrick recently joined the library’s weekly podcast. Fitzpatrick shared his experience working as a journalist and how journalism has changed since he began. Silverman spoke to the importance of protecting the First Amendment and the free press for our democracy.

NH Supreme Court Rules Misconduct Files of Fired Trooper Cannot Be Kept Secret

First Amendment expert and lawyer Gregory V. Sullivan, who represents the Union Leader and is president of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said the Supreme Court’s decision removes an “attempted roadblock that was set up by the state police” to deny the public “its right to know what the government is up to.” 

“This decision reflects the emphasis that the New Hampshire courts have placed in recent years on the importance of transparency regarding governmental misconduct,” Sullivan said. “As Superior Court Justice Andrew Schulman wrote, in the case of Union Leader Corporation v. the Town of Salem, ‘the audit report proves that bad things happen in the dark when the ultimate watchdogs of accountability — i.e. the voters and taxpayers — are viewed as alien rather than integral to the process of policing the police.’” [...]

Fall River is Appealing Its Public Records Lawsuit Loss. It Faces Thousands in Legal Bills

Attorney Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said the lawsuit and its outcome is “certainly a public records win, and sends a very strong message that you can’t just withhold records because there was some private agreement with the confidentiality clause.”

“It no way supersedes our right to know,” said Silverman. “It sends a strong message to Fall River that they can’t just withhold records because they want to. They must abide by the public records law.” [...]

Waltham Legal Opinion Chills Political Debate

Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said Cervone’s opinion appears to be based on a misunderstanding of the open meeting law by applying it to situations without a quorum. “If there isn’t a quorum present at public events, then it’s not a violation under the open meeting law,” Silverman said. [...]

Agency to Fork Up Nearly $200,000 for Shielding Public Records Related to Kennebec County Jail

“This is an interesting case and a needed one,” Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said recently.

While Maine’s freedom of information law allows those who prevail in public records lawsuits to recoup their legal fees if an agency is found to have exhibited bad faith in shielding them, Silverman said, no court had made a bad faith finding in a public records case since the origin of the Freedom of Access Act.

“It can be very burdensome for the public and for many newsrooms, quite frankly, to take these cases to court to force these government agencies to comply with the law and provide transparency and let us know what’s happening within government,” Silverman said. “This isn’t a matter of those in government providing information only when they feel that it’s convenient to do so. There is a state law that requires these public records to be disclosed.” [...]

MORE FOI & FIRST AMENDMENT NEWS

National / Regional

Supreme Court, First Amendment

• Supreme Court to Consider Giving First Amendment Protections to Social Media Posts | The Conversation
• She Got a Ticket for Beeping Her Car Horn. Now She's Asking the Supreme Court to Sound Off | USA Today
• At the Supreme Court, 'First Amendment Interests All Over the Place' | NPR

_________________________________________________

• As Mass Shootings Multiplied, the Horrific Human Cost Was Concealed | The Washington Post
• Why the Fight to Counter False Election Claims May Be Harder in 2024 | NPR
• ICE Releases Investigation Into Immigrant's Death After Months of 'Inexcusable' Delay | NPR

Connecticut

Freedom of Religion

• Lebanon Board of Ed Hears Support, Criticism of After School Satan Club | NBC Connecticut
• Parents in a Connecticut Town Worry as "After School Satan Club" Plans Meeting | USA Today
• After-School Club for Elementary Kids Sparks Controversy in Lebanon | WTNH

_________________________________________________

• Assistant Public Defender Suspended After Anti-Israel Marxist Newspapers Found in PD Waiting Room | ABA Journal
• Records Request for All Greenwich Parking Permit Holders Causes 'Alarm,' Calls for Change to State Law | Greenwich Time
• Bridgeport School Board Member Arrested While Protesting at Ganim Fundraiser Has Charge Dismissed | CT Post
• Agreement That Children "Shall Be Raised in the Orthodox Jewish Tradition" is Unenforceable | The Volokh Conspiracy

Maine

• Some Maine Prosecutors Stop Using a Terrorizing Law That’s Likely Unconstitutional | Bangor Daily News
• Bar Harbor Man Settles Lawsuit Over Arrest Outside Home of Conservative Activist Leonard Leo | Portland Press Herald
• Janet Mills’ Independent Commission to Investigate Lewiston Shooting Will Be Exempt from Public Records Requests | Maine Wire

Massachusetts

Turtleboy, Karen Read Case

• ‘Turtleboy’ Blogger Wages First Amendment Battle Over Witness Intimidation Charges | Boston .com
• Judge Hears First Amendment Argument From ‘Turtleboy’ Blogger Charged with Witness Intimidation | Boston 25 News
• Turtleboy Attorney Claims Mass. Witness Intimidation Laws Unconstitutional | MassLive

Governor's Office, Transparency

• Gov. Healey Will Stop Disclosing Out-of-State Travel in Advance | WBUR
• Healey Stops Disclosure of Out-of-State Travel | State House News Service
• Healey Says She'll Stop Disclosing Out-of-State Travel Due to ‘Security Concerns' | NECN
• Healey Will Stop Announcing Out-of-State Travel Plans to Public | Boston Herald
• Healey Says She Will No Longer Tell Public in Advance When She’s Leaving Massachusetts, Citing ‘Security Concerns’ | The Boston Globe

_________________________________________________

• The Shoestring Discusses Police Transparency at Community Panel | Massachusetts Daily Collegian
• State Laws Enable Secrecy Over Sexual Abuse in Mass. Public Schools | Boston 25
• Debate Over Palestinian Flag in North Andover Leads to Town Policy Change | MassLive
• Police Statewide are Keeping Their Weapons Inventories Secret | The Shoestring
• After Zoom-Bomb, Northampton Council Floats Rules Changes Aimed at Halting Hate Speakers | Daily Hampshire Gazette
• DiZoglio Undeterred By AG's Roadblock in Her Bid to Audit the Legislature | GBH
• In Marblehead and Waltham, Teachers and Officials Seek to Stifle Public Scrutiny | Media Nation
• A Massachusetts High School Student was Forced to Remove Clothing That Expressed Support for Palestine | NCAC

New Hampshire

Hate Speech

• Attorney General Appeals Neo-Nazi Civil Rights Dismissal to NH Supreme Court | InDepthNH
• NH Supreme Court to Hear Case of Neo-Nazi Leader Hanging Racist Banner Over Highway | MassLive
• NH Attorney General Takes Portsmouth Racist Banner Case to Supreme Court After Dismissal | Portsmouth Herald

_________________________________________________

• Student Newspaper, School Disagree Over Whether Student Government is Subject to Right-to-Know Law | The Laconia Daily Sun
• Public Records That Shed Light on Government’s Actions are Harder to Get | New Hampshire Bulletin
• Ex-Cop Asking N.H. Supreme Court to Keep Certain Personnel Records Private | The Boston Globe
• Enormous Public Records Requests May Come with a $25-an-Hour Search Fee | New Hampshire Bulletin
• This U.S. town is Considering a Ban on All Public Art | CBC

Rhode Island

Public Employees, Speech

• City Councilor Fired From Gov. McKee’s Office After Pro-Palestinian Social Media Posts | The Brown Daily Herald
• Richmond Councilor Targets Cost of Fighting Meeting Complaints | The Westerly Sun
• RIDOT Redacts | ecoRI
• ACLU Speaks on McKee Firing State Staffer Over Public Comments on Israel-Hamas War | ABC 6

_________________________________________________

• RI's Governor Can Give Out Low-Numbered Plates. Why Won't the State Tell Us Who Has Them? | The Providence Journal
• Stern Warning From R.I. ACLU Prompts Changes to Weekapaug Fire District Website | The Public's Radio

Vermont

• Stowe Pays Newspaper Lawyer’s Fees After Public Records Dispute | Stowe Reporter
• Mid Vermont Christian School Sues Vermont After Ban From State-Run Athletics | WCAX